ToughButterCup

Consistently good reports about them on this network, and background reading. Hillard published a paper on Passive Raft Design (I'll dig it out if you want). I like that commitment to professional development. And one short sentence in an email he sent. .... (paraphrasing) we did not have to use steel sleeved concrete piles as recommended by the soil investigation , and since they were so expensive, we should consider other piling types. So I did, long story short, saved about 17k. It was the fact that he bothered to engage with the wider problem (unnecessary expense) that tipped the balance.

Small point, if you order the blocks and are on site with the builder every day, there might well be less wastage. With more traditional builds, wastage isn't too big a problem, but you can't just pop down the BM to get a few more ICF blocks.

I'm sure Hillard Tanner has a sporran tucked away in a drawer somewhere.

Best advice

Your caution appears well advised. Any reason why the SE should be local? Ours is in Cork, never seen the team. Email, phone, Zoom, MS Teams, snail mail, fax, WhatsUp.....

Thanks. I need to bring the wood into the house for at least a week to let it rest - preferrably a fortnight. This from Norwood I need a UV ray protection, it seems : back to Osmo Oil and maybe a base coat. I'm thinking this might (because it has no biocides) do the trick.... Very interesting point indeed. You say happy .. happy as in keep its colour. I've just looked it up : seems that it's principal use might be in health and wellbeing. Might you have supplier (other than Holland and Barrett.)

We have a little Siberian Larch left over from our cladding. And I'm contemplating using it as a highlight for a very small (10 sqm) inside the house. But over time it'll oxidise unless I coat it with something. The wood is already resinous, so I'm wondering if it simply won't take any coating at all. Has anyone coated Siberian larch, or used it inside their house? If so, can you tell me what you used to coat it, please?

Both. External gets a coat or three of Zinser RAL7016 , internal gets fabbed up and then run through the thicknesser . That Zinser paint is fabulous; fab price too mind...

Yep. Made 5 meters worth so far today. Interesting variation in the slots created: some dry and clean as a whistle, others apparently 'wet' and jammed with sawdust. So I just have to bloward.....

But it ain't malpractice. So I'm safe.

I've used Hansgrohe iBox. It has a 'settable ' default temperature (40).

Never been in : just a quick look at their prices online ?

Yes. Here goes Start with Peter Millard : excellent guy - down in the weeds detail. Lots there - I've been watching his stuff for a few years now. He's a Festool Domino bloke, but not evangelist about it: Festool is not the answer to everything. Then there's Rag and Bone Brown. Bit wordy for my liking but sensible ideas This Kiwi has a passion for plywood. This link is to his list on handling the stuff. Hidden jointing ideas are tops ..... Heres a couple of videos about Lamello jointing That should give you a bit of fire-side reading and watching for a while.

Right Mr Griffiths, that does it. If, like me (us) you can't afford to waste any of the wood you order, and need to make your own fitted storage 'furniture' (because we're poor as church mice), and by chance you bump into this guy on YooChube (Peter Millard) , and you have a Just-Bloody-Do-It attitude, and you have enforced delays because your sodding ecologist delays the start of your build by 9 months, and you manage to turn that delay into planning time , and.... You buy a Festool Domino jointer, a Festool tracksaw and an MFT so you can DIY Max (sorry for the plagiarism @epsilonGreedy ) . Poor me. Hook, line and sinker innit : 1 to you Russ. Fair dos......

Watchit pal or I'll change my name again....?

Tried extra virgin, and butter. Warra friggin mess. like that stuff for push fit foul drains . Tomorrow is going to be like Turkish wrestling methinks.

Using a Domino cutter in siberian larch produces this.... After cutting just 6 slots.... Not good. Dust extraction on full thrutch . Is there anything I can coat the drill with to reduce the amount of cleaning I will need to do?

Have you scrubbed the blood off the bricks yet?

Welcome. Ask a structural engineer (SE). You're maybe new to this game (?), so a quick explanation might help Network a bit in your area for local, respected SEs. Make initial contact with all of them, describe the problem, and then ask them - if they're interested in the job - to submit a fee proposal. Don't let any professional over your threshold without a clear statement of their fees and Ts+Cs. You'll get a bill even if they do no further work for you. Get three opinions. And then ask a local builder for a tooth-sucking session - without telling them up front that you have an SEs opinion. In other words, arm yourself before talking to the builder. The SE might suggest a builder and vice versa. You might tell that old wag @Russell griffiths that you want ufh because you want to keep warm......?

40 is the safe temperature set in our Hansgrohe iBox. That's the German setting so the UK one must be higher... ?

Stayin wiv toughbuttercup. Wot @Russell griffiths says goes innit.

Go to the top of the class Jo !

This backbox has tested my patience... It's the little lug on the RHS which is refusing to accept the machine screw so it can be fastened in the wall. I've tried all sorts, including patience. I've cleaned it off thoroughly, not a speck of plaster anywhere . The machine screw has not been cross threaded. There appears to be no thread on the lug. Now wot? PS I'm saving money by scrounging scraps of earth sheathing from public dustbins in Lancaster. I'll try Morecambe next week

If there is a slight fall across the site, build a simple French drain to a spot lower than the foundation .... ? Cheap, quick, permanent.

The importance of the fabric first design appoach. It's the first and last consideration, everything else depends on it. For me, discovering fabric first was a bit like my introduction to wine: first, sweet and white, lots of it - now the decision is far more nuanced - far drier, much more expensive, and just one or two glasses at any one time.